Hartley discussion continues

To be or not to be.

The Waseca school district continues to come up against the classic question regarding the Hartley school building, built in 1959 and currently housing kindergarten through third grades.

During the June 6 school board meeting, board members were divided. Some took the stance it would be financially responsible for the school board to request taxpayers to consider a $36 million construction bond to expand the current intermediate school to house grades kindergarten through 6.  Doing so would remove the need for upgrades, improvements and repairs on the Hartley building while also consolidating the delivery of various services.

Other board members seemed to feel a referendum would be unwise, since taxpayers might resent the request and vote the question down.

During the July 20 board meeting, superintendent Eric Hudspith observed that he has “more work to do” to help board members decide what course they would like to recommend.

Hudspith offered to take two steps: First, he plans to put together a survey which provides clearer information about the possible consolidation of Hartley and the intermediate school. The survey would be more specific than one distributed in the past, and would be designed to collect feedback which gives a clearer impression of citizens’ feelings about the need for change, the perceived benefits of consolidation, and willingness to support a referendum.

Second, Hudspith informed board members that, if the Hartley site is retained, keeping it “functional” for somewhere between 10 and 15 years will require about $6 million in funding which is not available in the school budget, and so would necessitate going to voters with a referendum for the much smaller amount.

He offered to have a more or less complete plan for a $6 million referendum prepared by the August 3 work session. 

“Whether we ask voters for $36 million or for $6 million,” Hudspith observed, “they will remember that we asked.”

Hudspith said that time frames will no longer allow a referendum vote to occur in November, “So we have some time to get some answers and rethink our position.” He suggested a vote might be considered for either next spring or next fall. “But I’m going to keep coming back with this, because we need some direction about how the board would like to move forward. 

“We’re past the point of sitting back and waiting another 6 months in good conscience.”

During the member comment period, Dave Dunn expressed his gratitude to Pamela Deike, a paraprofessional at the elementary school who recently retired after 40 years of service.

Among the action items handled during the meeting was the approval of the 2023-24 student handbooks, renewing membership in both the Minnesota State School Board Association and the Minnesota State High School League, approving the state-required long term facilities maintenance (LTFM) plan, and approving updates to the district’s strategic plan.

Board members accepted and acknowledged an anonymous donation of $175 which covered outstanding debt for the school’s 2022-23 student meal service; that is, it took care of any debt which remained for students who are continuing with the district. Since the state legislature determined during its most recent session that there will be no charge for student meals in 2023-24 regardless of family income, having the debts canceled allows the district and families to move forward with a clean slate.